The show has a new introduction, with a knock off country song about SMW having the “biggest brawls” and “biggest stars” in wrestling.
Jim Ross and Les Thatcher call the action as they wrap up the television tapings in Sevierville, Tennessee.
Read moreWhat the World Was Watching: Smoky Mountain TV – February 11, 1995
Monday Night Raw
Date: October 10, 2005
Location: American Bank Center, Corpus Christi, Texas
Attendance: 3,500
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Jonathan Coachman
Last week was a big show with Homecoming and now we get to build towards the next big thing with Taboo Tuesday. There is a lot of fallout to deal with from last week, including HHH turning on Ric Flair and beating him to a bloody pulp last week. Other than that, Steve Austin Stunned every McMahon in sight, including Linda for the first time. That doesn’t bode well so let’s get to it.
While Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) paved the road for wrestling’s future by the end of the decade, Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW) was a product yearning for the past. Started by former Midnight Express manager and Louisville native Jim Cornette, and bankrolled by record producer Rick Rubin, in 1991, SMW billed itself as “professional wrestling like it used to be and the way you like it.” Running shows in the Appalachian areas of Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, and the Carolinas, the promotion’s presentation and booking mirrored the territory days, with a traditional babyface-heel alignment and the adoption of Southern wrestling customs like disqualifications for wrestlers who tossed their opponents over the top rope. SMW relied on older NWA talents to boost houses, reviving the careers of the Rock N’ Roll Express and Buddy Landel, but it also became a haven for new acts that would later make their mark in the big time as Chris Jericho, Chris Candido, Tammy Sytch, Boo Bradley (the future Balls Mahoney), D’Lo Brown, the Gangstas, Lance Storm, and Unabomb (the future Kane) spent time in the company.
Read moreWhat the World Was Watching: Smoky Mountain TV – January 7, 1995
Monday Night Raw
Date: April 18, 2005
Location: Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York
Attendance: 17,258
Commentators: Jonathan Coachman, Jerry Lawler
We’re less than two weeks away from Backlash and that means things are going to start picking up around here, including what should be a big deal with the show taking place in the Garden. Maybe Batista can get some significant time this week, assuming HHH is willing to let the World Champion in on his time. Let’s get to it.
On Thursday, I took in Wrestling Night at the Florence Freedom baseball game. It was a pretty simple setup: the wrestlers would throw out first pitches together, do some goofy stuff in the early innings and then sign autographs in the third inning, followed by a Q&A session after the game. Since traffic was a complete nightmare, I missed the first pitches and some of the shenanigans, though I did catch the end of Billy Gunn losing a dance contest. As a bonus, the plate music all night long was nothing but WWE theme songs, so at least they were trying a little extra.
–Gordon Solie, Dusty Rhodes, and Larry Zbyszko are doing commentary and they are concluding the tapings in Dalton, Georgia.
Read moreWhat the World Was Watching: WCW Pro – January 21, 1995
–Gene Okerlund and Bobby Heenan are the studio hosts for a special ninety minute episode.
Read moreWhat the World Was Watching: WCW Main Event – January 15, 1995
–Vince McMahon, Mr. Perfect, and Jim Ross are calling today’s action, which is taped from Salisbury, Maryland.
–Marty Jannetty gives Razor Ramon a leather jacket backstage and asks for Ramon’s help against the 1-2-3 Kid. Ramon agrees to the idea and agrees to watch Jannetty’s back as long as Jannetty watches his in the weeks ahead. It seems like this angle ran behind their television storylines as McMahon already told fans on RAW that Ramon and Jannetty would be facing Sid and the Kid at In Your House.
Read moreWhat the World Was Watching: WWF Superstars – December 2, 1995
Live from Milwaukee, WI
Airdate: January 13, 1993
Attendance: 4,000
Hosted by Jim Ross & Jesse “The Body” Ventura
Experience the return of Thundercage! Also, will Steamboat and Douglas retain the unified tag team titles? Or will Austin and Pillman supplant them? Let’s find out!
Read moreRock Star Gary reflects on WCW Clash of the Champions XXII
Monday Night Raw
Date: September 29, 2003
Location: Allstate Arena, Chicago, Illinois
Commentators: Al Snow, Jonathan Coachman
It’s a big night tonight because THE BATTLING ANNOUNCERS ARE BACK! This time around we have it’s in the form of Jim Ross vs. Jonathan Coachman for the commentary job, because Steve Austin can just do that again. Oh and there’s a ladder match for the Intercontinental Title with Christian defending against Rob Van Dam. Let’s get to it.
–Jim Ross and Todd Pettengill are in the booth and they are taped from Worcester, Massachusetts, the site of the final Wrestling Challenge tapings, as well as from Portland, Maine. It is SummerSlam Sunday!
Read moreWhat the World Was Watching: The Action Zone – August 27, 1995
Unforgiven 2003
Date: September 21, 2003
Location: Giant Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 10,347
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler
It’s another Raw exclusive pay per view, based around the idea of finding the least interesting story possible. Is it Shane McMahon and his electric testicles vs. Kane or a barely mobile HHH managing to drag out his second World Title defense against Goldberg? You know, that guy known for his long matches. There’s also the option of the battling announcers, which is always a big winner. Let’s get to it.
Monday Night Raw
Date: February 17, 2003
Location: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler
It’s the go home Raw for No Way Out and thankfully Scott Steiner vs. HHH II doesn’t feel like it’s anywhere near the biggest thing on the show anymore. Unfortunately what is the biggest story on this show is the chance that Steve Austin will be here on Sunday, which leaves a bunch of talking and nothing to see building up to the show. Let’s get to it.
–A video package quickly highlights the various WrestleMania’s. It is notable that celebrities are emphasized in this package instead of wrestlers, partly due to the fact that Hulk Hogan, competing in WCW, was in the main event of most of them.
–Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler are doing commentary and they are live from Hartford, Connecticut. The Hartford Civic Center is probably the worst WrestleMania venue in history since it lacks the history and size of its predecessors and successors. Its selection is an illustration of the problems that the company was experiencing the mid-1990s.
Monday Night Raw
Date: December 23, 2002
Location: Ford Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler
It’s the last regular show of the year as next week is a Best Of special. Thankfully that means one less week of Scott Steiner vs. HHH, who last week reached new levels of suck with a long talking segment. Steiner is all flash at this point and I’m really not sure HHH is the one to drag him to the next level. Let’s get to it.
–Boyz 2 Men sing “America the Beautiful” to kick off the show. They receive a Cena-like mixed reaction.
–Michael Cole and Jerry “The King” Lawler are in the booth and they are live from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
–Steve Austin arrives at the arena and comes across a driver of a Coor’s Light truck. Product placement 101.
–Michael Cole and Jerry “The King” Lawler are calling the action and they are live from Albany, New York. This is the last RAW we have to hear called by Cole for a while so I am happy about that. This is the go home show for WrestleMania XV.
Read moreWhat the World Was Watching: Monday Night Raw – March 22, 1999
–A video package recaps the tensions building between the Rock and Paul Wight, whose nickname has been changed to “The Big Show” instead of the “The Big Nasty.” We are also reminded that the Undertaker is going after Vince McMahon.
–Michael Cole and Jerry “The King” Lawler are in the booth and they are live from San Jose, California.
–WWF Champion The Rock opens the show and he tells Steve Austin that he will prove his status as “The Great One” at WrestleMania. He demands that Vince McMahon come out and prove to him that the Big Show is not working with Austin. McMahon complies and says that “Dwayne” needs a reality check for being ungrateful for all that McMahon has given him. He says that three generations of his family have looked after the Rock’s ancestors and that Paul Wight is not as quick to understand the existing agreement. Wight comes out and demands to know what McMahon is talking about, threatening he and the Rock. McMahon does not kindly to that, leading Wight to manhandle him into a corner to get his point across. McMahon collects himself and books the Rock and Wight to team up to face Mankind and Steve Austin, thereby making this a preview of WrestleMania. The Rock and Wight shake hands to end the segment at McMahon’s behest.
Read moreWhat the World Was Watching: Monday Night Raw – March 15, 1999
–A video package chronicles Steve Austin attacking the Rock on Sunday Night Heat and Paul Wight not trying to save the Rock from the assault.
–Michael Cole and Jerry “The King” Lawler are calling the action and they are live from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Read moreWhat the World Was Watching: Monday Night Raw – March 8, 1999
–A video package recaps the Undertaker’s recent threats against Vince McMahon, culminating in the Undertaker burning a teddy bear at the end of last week’s RAW.
–Michael Cole and Jerry “The King” Lawler are doing commentary and they are live from Cleveland, Ohio.
–The Corporation comes out and Vince McMahon discusses how the audience does not understand his capacity to love. He fires Kane for losing the inferno match to the Undertaker last week and has orderlies come down to send Kane to the insane asylum. However, Chyna comes to Kane’s aid and they fight them off. Chyna tells McMahon that she can control Kane and asks for Kane to be booked against Steve Austin, with Kane’s job on the line. McMahon counters by also putting Chyna’s job on the line. Mankind then joins the festivities and volunteers to referee the Steve Austin-Kane match to prove himself worthy of refereeing the title match at WrestleMania XV. McMahon agrees on the condition that Mankind is able to defeat the Undertaker on tonight’s show (this is later clarified in the broadcast to mean that McMahon will consider Mankind for the role at WrestleMania based on how the match goes). The Undertaker’s voice then comes on via the loudspeakers and he says that he has already told McMahon what he is going to take from him.
Read moreWhat the World Was Watching: Monday Night Raw – March 1, 1999